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THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL

12301 Spotswood Furnace Road

Fredericksburg, VA 22407

Governing Board Meeting

October 15, 2015

MINUTES

Members Present: Mr. Dewayne McOsker, Chair (Stafford); Dr. Mary Anderson, Vice Chair (Caroline); Mr. Ken Novell, (King George)

Also attending: Mrs. Merri Kae VanderPloeg (The Commonwealth Governor's School Director); Dr. Bruce Benson (Superintendent of Stafford County Schools); Dr. Robert Benson

(Superintendent of King George County Schools); Dr, George Parker (Superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools).

Mr. Keith Wolfe (Executive Director of Secondary Education in Spotsylvania County); Mr.

Ray Lora (Spotsylvania); Dr. Scott Baker (Superintendent of Spotsylvania Public Schools) was absent.

Mr. McOsker determined that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.

Mrs. VanderPloeg publically thanked Dr. Anderson and Mr. Novell for their service to The Commonwealth Governor's School. Both individuals were part of the board for four years

and were very dedicated to the operations of the program.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 15, 2015 AGENDA

Mr. McOsker made a motion to approve the agenda. Mr. Novell seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0.

CITIZEN COMMENTS

Q No comments at this time.

BOARD MEMBERS COMMENTS

Mr. Novell shared that King George sent three CGS teachers to the AP Institute in Williamsburg, VA. Mr. McOsker inquired if this was a practice elsewhere. Mrs. VanderPloeg explained that the three school divisions with sites and CGS share the costs of professional development for teachers. It is a practice for the CGS teachers to share new resources and instructional methods with colleagues after they return from the institutes. No more comments were made.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS

Dr. Parker said that he was looking forward to working with the board and was interested in visiting the King George/Caroline Site at the end of October.

DIRECTOR COMMENTS

The Academic Governors' Schools across the state have collectively been working on the reorganization of the funding formula for the Governor's School programs across the state because the funding formula has not changed in twenty-five years. The Governor's office was open to conversation about changing the formula. A public petition was made and the Governor's office was looking for feedback to see if there needed to be considerations. Later in October the Governor's office would meet with a few Directors to discuss this issue. The Directors and the head of gifted education for the state of Virginia hoped the funding formula will be brought up in the Governor's FY 2017 budget address in December. Furthermore, the Directors sent the Governor a letter in support of K-12 education funding proposal he outlined.

The Director will be conducting middle school visits across the four county area in late October and early November. In addition to the middle school visits, Mrs. VanderPloeg will be presenting at the Stafford County Signature Programs event and the Spotsylvania County Night of Discovery event. These two events highlight special programs in the school divisions and it's primarily geared toward elementary and middle schools. All of the division parent information sessions will be in November and December. The CGS application for the 2016-17 school year will open after the winter break.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES & FINANCIAL REPORT

Mr. Novell made a motion to approve the consent agenda. Dr. Anderson seconded the motion to approve the financial report and consent agenda. It passed 3-0.

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INFORMATION ITEMS

SOL and Advanced Profiles Report

Mrs. VanderPloeg emailed the Governing Board copies of the SOL and AP profiles of performance reports. She gave explanations of some of the percentages and how the teachers and the Director set goals to increase the AP scores and some of the SOL Pass Advanced rates. Mrs. V anderPloeg gave examples of interventions some students were getting from faculty and other instructional staff. She explained different AP content areas and how some of the variables changed and potentially attributed to the decline/increase in scores.

FY Amended 2016 Budget

The budget was amended because the enrollment was lower than projected. CGS had several students exit or move away in July and August. In order to adjust the budget, the program changed the allocated budget under line item 'Site Connections' because several contracts sunset and the cost ofmonthly payments decreased. There was a 25% reduction in the budget but student services and current supplies would continue to be budgeted. Dr. Robert Benson asked why some students left and Mrs. V anderPloeg gave several reasons. The two primary reasons were moving out of district and exiting due to the workload. Mr. Novell asked if the contracted guidance counselor could have helped those who were dissatisfied with their performance or the workload. Mrs. V anderPloeg said that the counselor was not working with the program last ) Spring and Summer. Dr. Robert Benson asked if in the future the program could project lower enrollment numbers so budgetary adjustments were not so drastic. Mrs. V anderPloeg said the VDOE suggested projecting high because it is easier to project high on a budgetary standpoint and to later amend the budget. If CGS projected lower enrollment numbers and later had to increase, the state may not be as cooperative to give the necessary funds to the program. Mr. McOsker moved to approve the budget. Dr. Anderson seconded the motion. The Governing Board passed the budget 3-0.

Adjournment

Dr. Anderson made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Mr. Novell seconded the motion. Motion passed 3-0. The Governing Board adjourned at 5:23 p.m.